Peter Mullan takes the directorial helm once again in his third feature length film returning to 1970 Glasgow in NEDS (which stands for ' Non-Educated Delinquents') a personal but not autobiographical tale John Mc Gill is a confident young man an academic genius & full of potential however dark clouds lie ahead for him A poor background dysfunctional home an alcoholic father & a repressed mother are at the root of the problems heading the young man way His school has one or two good teachers but most are uninterested & unhelpful in the face of bullying & overwhelming gang culture which has spread from local housing estates to the schoolyard Director Peter Mullan poses the fateful question; can John transcend the destiny of his grim surroundings & make something of himself?